REVISED GUIDELINES FOR PREVENTION OF EARLY-ONSET GROUP-B STREPTOCOCCAL (GBS) INFECTION

In 1992, the Committee on Infectious Diseases and Committee on Fetus a nd Newborn of the American Academy of Pediatrics provided guidelines f or prevention of early-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) disease throu gh intrapartum chemoprophylaxis of selected maternal GBS carriers.(1) The guidelines were based on demonstrated efficacy in randomized, cont rolled clinical trials and selected only women with GBS colonization w ho had an obstetric risk factor.(2) The guidelines were controversial( 3,4) and their implementation incomplete.(5) Since 1992, additional da ta have become available, and experience with the guidelines has been gained in numerous medical centers. Recently, consensus guidelines wer e developed by obstetricians, pediatricians, family practitioners, and public health authorities and published by the Centers for Disease Co ntrol and Prevention.(6) These recommendations are supported by the Am erican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists(7) and the American Academy of Pediatrics. This statement reviews the selection of pregnan t women for chemoprophylaxis and provides an algorithm for management of their newborns.